Spurs wrap up trip against Warriors

(SportsNetwork.com) - The San Antonio Spurs have reached the end of a western road trip and will try to maintain their recent dominance over the Golden State Warriors Thursday at Oracle Arena.

The Spurs are 2-1 on the trip and defeated the Warriors, 76-74, back on Nov. 8 in the Alamo City behind Tony Parker, who scored his team's final seven points and finished with 18. San Antonio has won 18 of its last 20 meetings with the Warriors and eight of 12 trips to Oakland.

Parker missed Wednesday's 108-101 victory over the Phoenix Suns because of a shin contusion and could miss Thursday's contest. Manu Ginobili scored a game- high 24 points, Tim Duncan had 17 and 13 rebounds and Kawhi Leonard netted 14 points in the win, the Spurs' fifth in the last six games.

San Antonio, which rebounded from Monday's loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, is 11-3 as the visitor and scored 25 points off 19 Phoenix turnovers. The Spurs also ended the Suns' five-game winning streak.

"We played defense in the second half," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "We gave up 58 points in the first half and we can't win games like that because we're not going to score 100 and 155 and that sort of thing."

The Spurs' bench outscored the Suns reserves 58-29.

Ginobili is averaging 16.5 points per game in his last four, while Duncan has registered five straight double-doubles. After visiting the Warriors, San Antonio will return home for three games versus Oklahoma City, Toronto and Houston.

Golden State was able to get back on track with its 104-93 win versus the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday in the opener of a three-game homestand.

Steph Curry scored 28 points and dished out 12 assists to lead the charge. He has scored at least 20 points in 11 straight games, the longest active streak in the league. Curry, who made 11-of-19 shots from the field versus New Orleans, is averaging 30.8 points per game in his last five contests.

David Lee added 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Warriors, while Klay Thompson and Marreese Speights tallied 16 and 12 points, respectively.

Golden State versatile forward Andre Iguodala returned to the lineup after missing 12 games with a hamstring injury, finishing with two points in 17 minutes.

"It felt good. I got tired of watching," Iguodala said. "You get a new appreciation for the game, especially seeing your brothers struggle. Tonight was a great game by everyone, just to get a win and put together a string of good basketball the way we did the first three quarters."

Lee has posted a double-double in six straight games for Golden State, which is 8-3 at home and will close the residency Saturday versus Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Warriors and Spurs are averaging nearly the same amount on offense, as San Antonio is scoring on a 103.1 ppg clip and Golden State is averaging 103.0 ppg. San Antonio is a better defensive team, however, allowing 94.4 ppg to Golden State's 100.2 ppg.